The
Chera power which was destroyed in Tamil Nadu was re-established
in Kerala under Kulasekhara Varman about 800 A.D. The illustrious
royal dynasty of the Kulasekharas ruled over Kerala from 800-1102
A.D. with their capital at Thiruvanchikkulam or Mahodayapuram.
The Kulasekhara Empire is known as the Second Chera Empire as
opposed to the First Chera Empire of the Sangam Age. It was only
under the Kulasekharas in the ninth century that Kerala produced
a civilization and became a unified and significant political
power.

There
were thirteen important Kulasekharas known to us from historical
inscriptions which were recently discovered and interpreted.
Kulasekhara Varman (800-820), the founder of the Second Chera
Empire, was Kulasekhara Alwar, the famous Hindu Vaishnavite saint
and author of the Tamil Perumal Thirumozhi and Mukundamala.
His successor, Rajasekhara Varman (820-844), was a Saivite saint
who introduced the Malayalam Era known as Kollam Era in 825 A.D.
His successor Sthanu Ravi Varman (844-885) was the best known
king of this dynasty;
the Christians received the Tharisa Pally Copper Plate during
his reign from the Venad ruler Ayyan Adigal Thuruvatikal.
it was during Ayyan's reign that the Arab merchant Sulaiman (851
A.D.) came to Kerala and introduced Islam. It was also at this
time that the great Christian priest-hero Kadamattathu Kathanar
lived. It is the trio, Ayyan, Kadamattam, and Bavar, the
Muslim colleague of Sulaiman, who are honored and worshipped at
the ecumenical shrine of Sabarimala. Sthanu Ravi Varman
is sometimes identified with Rajasekhara Varman who in turn is
identified with Cheraman Perumal Nayanar. According to Keralolpathi,
Cheraman Perumal was the last emperor; he divided the kingdom
among his suzerains, embraced Islam, left Kerala for Mecca, married
a Muslim princess, and finally died on the Arabian Coast.

During
the reign of Rama Varma Kulasekhara (1090-1102), Kerala was overrun
by the mighty Cholas under Kulothunga I. The Cheras defended
themselves valiantly. The famous warrior class of Kerala,
the Nairs, formed suicide squads (Chavers) against the invaders.
The Cholas destroyed Kollam, the captial of Venad, and burned
down Mahodayapuram, the capital of the Cheras. In spite of these
setbacks, Rama Varma and his Chaver army forced the Cholas to
withdraw from Kerala to Kottar. Rama Varma then shifted
his capital to Kollam (Quilon), the capital of Venad, which later
came to be called Ten Vanchi (the Vanchi of the South);
from this time on Venad would become the most important Chera
kingdom.

With
the withdrawal of the Chola forces from Kerala, the Cheras ceased
to look at the east as their home; after all, they were rejected
by their own kinsmen, the Pandyas and the Cholas. The notion
of the "foreign" Perumals who came from Tamil Nadu has some truth
in it: the Cheras until the eleventh century considered
themselves kinsmen and Immigrants from the east, their ancestral
home. When the Pandyas and the Cholas rejected them and
made war on them, they decided to break away completely from their
eastern kith and kin and to consider themselves Keralites.
It was a declara-tion of independence; it is somewhat like
the American Declaration of Independence from Britain. A
new free nation rose from the ashes of neglect, defiance, and
destruction.

The
following important points characterize the Chera Age of
the Kulasekharas, otherwise known as the "Golden Age" of Kerala:

1.
The empire though unified, consisted of many smaller kingdoms
which were given independence by the last Perumal, Cheraman Perumal.

2.
The Perumals followed the patrllineal (Makkathayam) system
of inheritance.

3.
The capital was Mahodayapuram near Cranganore.

4.
The kingdom had extensive trade relations with the Arabs and the
Chinese. The latter gave the following to Kerala culture
and the Malayalam language: China otam { a kind of
boat), China vala (a kind of fishing net), China veti
(a kind of fire works), and China chatti (a wok).
Many wealthy merchant families of this era were Christians and
Muslims.

5.
During the Kulasekhara times, the Malayalam language declared
its independence from Tamil and came into its own by divorcing
Tamil and by marrying Sanskrit. It was the Brahmin priests
from the North who established this new marriage alliance.

6.
This age also saw the establishment of Hinduism and the decline
of Buddhism and Jainism. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam,
however, flourished; the Christians and Muslims, unlike the non-violent
Buddhists and Jainists, contributed much to the defense of the
coun-try against foreign invaders. As usual, the Jews contributed
money. The Kulasekharas encouraged the popular cult of Bhakti,
the intensely emotional surrender to personal gods like Shiva
and Krishna, among the masses. As a result. Bhajans (devotional
songs) became popular.

7.
Many Vaishnavite and Saivite temples arose all over Kerala as
cen-ters of cultural activities. New art forms like Kuthu
and Kutiyattam also developed. It is said that the systems
of devadasis (former Buddhist nuns?) also came into vogue
at this time.

8.
Vedic schools attached to temples came into being in different
parts of Kerala. These schools were called Sala i and were
richly endowed by the rulers of the land.

9.
During the Chera-Chola War of the eleventh century/the patrilinear
system of inheritance (Makkathayam) disintegrated and was
replaced by Marumakkathayam (matrilineal system). The introduction
of compulsory military training of males and their prolonged absence
from home during the long period of Chola invasion is said to
be the main reason for the rise of Marumakkathayam.